Having received his release papers from the prison’s management, on an average day of the Baltic autumn Rimantas Muka (31) moved through the gates of Alytus prison in Lithuania. He bought a kebab and a soda at a nearby kiosk. He just stood there and ate, waiting. Muka thought that the autumn morning was wonderful.

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It happens very quickly. I raise my foot on the chair, roll up my trousers and a prison official fixes black plastic-rubber band around my ankle. It looks like a large wristwatch. 30 seconds and done. I am now one of the 100 people who at this very moment are electronically tagged in Estonia.

Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania has the largest prisoners population in the European Union. They have twice as much prisoners as an EU average, and 4 – 5 times more than in Netherlands. The average length of imprisonment is 5 – 10 years, while in EU it is 1 – 3. Half of Latvian prisoners re-offend within two years. See more in the infographic.

6AM. Six men are drinking moonshine at the shared table in one of the cells of the largest prison in Latvia. None of them cares about guards because often overnight there is just one for 400 prisoners.